3013: PRIMAL

by Laurie Roma

  The D’Aire were a benevolent race that the humans had nicknamed Angels due to the majestic wings that most kept them hidden using the magic of their species. Avoiding the Krytos that had started walking toward him, Chal released his impressive white wings and simply flew over him. Reva couldn’t help but be a little envious as the white-haired male landed lightly next to her a few seconds later.

  Chal was almost a foot taller than her, but the tips of his wings towered over them both by another foot. He had loose white pants on and a matching shirt with two large slits in the back so his wings hadn’t torn the material. He smiled down at her, and she could see the compassion shining in his iridescent eyes.

  Reva hadn’t seen him since the day of the massacre. Chal and Diera, had been family friends for as long as she could remember. Her mother and fathers had been in their restaurant when the Genesis Project drug had been released. All three of them hadn’t been able to fight the change, and they had shifted into their cat forms when the rage had taken over. When Reva had finally gotten to the restaurant, Diera had been weeping over their bodies, while Chal had guarded the entrance with two stunners in his hands.

  Thankfully, most of the other patrons had been D’Aire, who weren’t affected by the drug. Still, almost a dozen people had been killed before the D’Aire and elites had been able to stun those still alive. Chal and Diera had both sworn a debt to Reva, since they hadn’t been able to save her parents, but they weren’t at fault…she was.

  “Thanks for coming so quickly,” Reva said in greeting.

  “I was right outside, as you requested.” Chal’s voice was musical, with a deep, lyrical tone that seemed to soothe the people in the room just by hearing him speak.

  Maddox shot Reva a quick glance before saying, “Nice entrance, Chal.”

  “Alpha.”

  Maddox Adaro felt his anger fade slightly. He had been uncomfortable with the Tarin on his home after what Quilla had done, and when he was uneasy, someone usually ended up bloody. His mate’s brother had insisted that they needed to speak with Malik Rego to get more information. Maddox didn’t like it, but he felt relief at Chal’s arrival, and understood why Reva had requested the D’Aire.

  All of the D’Aire were able to slip into someone’s mind and do a scan of thoughts and memories, however, it was against their code to do so without permission. As a seeker and one of the oldest D’Aire on board, Chal was able to scan someone without touching them, whether he wanted to or not. It was the reason the male rarely left his kitchen, preferring solitude over being around crowds of people. The Adaro brothers had even helped Chal and Diera reinforce the walls of their quarters, so Chal wasn’t constantly bombarded with peoples’ thoughts and feelings.

  “Chal?”

  “Give me a moment.” Chal tilted his head to the side as he studied each of the Tarins in turn. He hummed softly, then nodded a few times when he got to Malik, then his iridescent blue eyes widened and he took a step forward, as if he wanted to read more.

  As he did, Darius scowled, his hand sliding toward the hilt of his sword. “What in hellfire is going on? Why is he looking at you that way?”

  “He’s a seeker,” Malik said calmly, his black eyes boring into Reva before he switched to the D’Aire. “You see something interesting?”

  “Oh, yes. Tons.” Chal paused as he studied Malik for a long moment. “But there is nothing that would be of concern to Maddox, or the other males in the room. You are males of honor, and you want the same thing they do. Revenge, and to end Quilla.”

  “That is good to hear,” Maddox said, then gestured at the Krytos hiding in the shadows to stand down. “Thank you for getting the information we needed, Chal.”

  “No thanks needed, Alpha. Reva thought this was the quickest and easiest way.”

  Reva noticed that none of the Tarins liked hearing that by their glares. She’d met Darius, Iolas, Pharon, and Lazio when she’d visited Tartarus. She liked them, but she’d been ready to kill any of them if needed. She’d hoped that all of them were being honest and true, and she felt a deep sense of relief hearing that her instincts had been right.

  “Are we easy to read?” Darius asked, his expression tight.

  “Very.”

  “Damn, Reva. A little warning would have been nice,” Lazio muttered. “You know, it’s hard not to think about things you’re not supposed to think about when someone is poking around in your brain.”

  “No one cares about your sex life, Lazio,” Reva shot back dryly. That got a few laughs from the other males in the group, but Malik and Chal remained stoic.

  “Hmm,” Chal murmured, his iridescent blue eyes alight with curiosity. His voice lowered to barely a whisper. “Maybe not, but there is someone else who would be very interesting to discuss.”

  Suddenly, all of the Tarins turned their fathomless black eyes on the D’Aire.

  “You will stop. Now.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Malik felt his males standing behind him react to his own rage, and tried to regain control of himself. The Tarins felt energy, and his anger was a palpable thing. They felt the shift in the air as he automatically drew energy to him as he did whenever his temper was ignited. They didn’t know the reason, but they could feel the result, and prepared for a fight.

  He’d known that the D’Aire was a seeker as soon as he’d entered the room, and had known what was coming. It was a necessary evil, but there was only so far he would allow the D’Aire to go. Only so much that he would let Chal disclose. Malik had subjected his men to an invasion of the most intimate nature to prove that they weren’t in collusion with his sister, but he would not allow anyone to disrespect what he’d had with Reva.

  Those memories belonged to them, and it was none of Chal’s fucking business.

  “Are we going to have a problem?” Malik asked, staring at the D’Aire coldly.

  All conversation had come to a halt, and everyone watched the byplay between Malik and Chal, interest warring with confusion. The warriors behind Malik had moved into a battle formation, but the D’Aire didn’t seem worried in the least.

  Reva fought the urge to glare at Chal since she knew exactly what he’d been hinting at. That wasn’t a discussion she wanted to have with these particular males in the room, and her friend wasn’t helping anything by provoking the Tarins into a fight. “Can we take this inside now?”

  Taking pity on her, Chal bowed his head slightly toward the Tarins as a whole. “There is no problem. I guess I should apologize for the intrusion.”

  “But you aren’t sorry.”

  Chal sent Malik a rueful smile. “Not really, no. Normally, I try not to invade, but this was an important matter that needed elucidation. I may pry, but I only divulge necessary information.” He tapped the side of his head. “The rest stays in here, even if I don’t want it to remain. I believe that it’s better than hours of interrogation.”

  “Damn right it is. Though, I don’t really have a clue what just happened. Still, if Chal says all of you are clear, then you may come inside.” Maddox caught the glare Reva was sending him and sighed. “Welcome to New Vega. I just needed to be sure you weren’t assholes before I let you anywhere near my mate, my brothers, or anyone else inside.”

  As he gestured them forward, Darius nodded. “I can respect that logic.”

  The group started walking toward the entrance, and Pharon shook his head in disgust. “Even with this damned language converter, I don’t understand this. So, a D’Aire pops into our heads, and now everything is fine?”

  “That’s about right. If time wasn’t an issue, I might have had a different reaction,” Malik said, but his terse tone told them he still wasn’t happy about it. “As it is, this cuts through the bullshit.”

  Chal laughed softly as he moved next to the Tarin lord. “Just to let you know, I would have read you anyway if I had happened by while you were here.” He lowered his voice so no one else could hear. “And I would have sought you out anyway…and I believe you k
now why.”

  A few feet away, Iolas said, “You would have been good to have back home, D’Aire.”

  Chal smiled wryly. “Perhaps, but I would go mad. Literally. My keeper helps me block out all of the voices, but it is still difficult. I would be better off on my home world, where most of the D’Aire are able to block others from reading them. I could live in solitude, away from others, but that would make my keeper unhappy. She is a social female, so I do what I need to stay here.”

  “You should come to the meeting, Chal,” Jax implored. “I’m sure we could use your insight.”

  The D’Aire shook his head. “All of you are already giving me a headache. If you don’t need me any longer, I will return to my keeper.”

  Maddox slapped Chal on the back as they arrived at the entrance into the heart of New Vega. “You’re free to go. Thank you for doing this.”

  When the doors slid opened, Maddox, Jax, Sullivan, and the Tarins walked through, but Malik remained behind with Chal and Reva when the D’Aire stopped and placed his hand on Reva’s shoulder, squeezing gently. The doors slid shut again after a few seconds of no movement, leaving the three of them alone in the shadows. Only a small blue light above the entrance allowed them to see one another, but the sapphire glow was an eerie accent to the room.

  Chal would have let go quickly of Reva, as no male with a keeper enjoyed touching another female, but he squeezed again just to piss off the Tarin lord that was seething with anger at the touch. He knew the Tarin would like nothing more than to cut off his hand with a sword, but Malik would have to control himself a little longer. Chal had information he wanted the Tarin to know, but he didn’t want to just tell him.

  That wouldn’t get the reaction he wanted to see.

  Looking at Reva, Chal murmured, “This was not the debt owed to you, little one.”

  “It’s what I asked for.”

  “It is not enough. It will never be enough to repay what you lost,” he countered.

  “What are you talking about?” Malik demanded. “What loss?”

  Reva turned to look at him as Chal quietly left them alone, exiting as the doors slid open again. The bright lights coming from the lobby made her squint for a moment, and she waited until the doors closed again to say, “My mother and two of my fathers were killed when the drug was released here.”

  Horrified, Malik stood frozen in place. He wanted to step away, to run from what his sister had done, but he wasn’t a male to run from anything. A desperate ache to hold her took over, though, he clenched his hands into fist in order to hold back. His blood was tainted, and he didn’t deserve to touch her after all that had been taken from her.

  “I’m very sorry,” he said softly, but words weren’t enough.

  They both knew it.

  Her beautiful amber eyes remained flat as she explained, “It is why I will be the one to kill Quilla. I made a vow to them, and this is one I won’t break.”

  Malik damned himself as he stepped forward and gripped her hands in his. “Helicca, I swear to you and your family that I will avenge them for you,” he promised, using the Tarin endearment that was more profound and meaningful than sweetheart or darling without realizing it. “I want you to be safe. You should not—”

  “I know where she went.”

  The words were out of Reva’s mouth before she could think to stop them, and she fought the cringe that wanted to hunch her shoulders. So, that wasn’t exactly the truth. She didn’t lie as a rule, but lately, she hadn’t been able to help herself. Plus, this wasn’t an ordinary situation. Since she couldn’t search on her own, she needed to go with the group that was going on the hunt, and she wouldn’t allow anyone to disagree.

  “What did you say?” Shock lit up Malik’s face.

  Reva held up a hand. She knew she had to come clean. “I know where she went after leaving New Vega, but I don’t know where she is now. Don’t ask, because I won’t tell you until you agree to take me with you. I won’t stop. If you say no, I’ll just find another ship, another crew to go with. I will find her, and I will kill her.”

  His black eyes burned with fury for a moment, then that fire dimmed to a slow smolder. “You demand much, but it is nothing compared to what you have lost. You will come with us, but we shall see who gets the prize in the end.”

  “Fine.” Reva paused, then said, “We should…join the others.”

  “Of course.”

  He stood where he was for a few more seconds, deeply bereft that he couldn’t extend his time alone with her. But they couldn’t stay in the docking bay. Gesturing her ahead of him, he followed her through the entrance and got his first glimpse of New Vega, in all its glory. The stark gray of the docking bay gave way to a rich cream and gold interior as the entered the lobby. He imagined that the large area was usually filled with laughter and music, but at the moment there was only an eerie silence that made him edgy.

  He walked with Reva through the lobby, to where it opened up into the shopping pavilion. Jax, Sullivan, and the other Tarins were standing in the center of the circular room, just staring up without saying a word. Malik looked up and admired the space. There were five tiers various shops and restaurants, with gilded gold balconies lining each floor. Everything looked pristine, and it was exactly how he’d imagined the luxury vessel in every way. Well, except for the mass of people that were missing.

  Glancing over, he caught the shocked look on Reva’s face, and immediately moved toward her as he surveyed the area for any sign of a threat. “What is it, helicca?”

  The Tarins turned to look at their lord with wide eyes when they heard him speak, but the others didn’t take their eyes from the shopping pavilion. Maddox appeared on the third floor, and he braced his hands on the railing. “It’s all back to the way it was. All of the shops are completely fixed.”

  Reva blinked as she looked around, astounded by what she was seeing. When she’d been in the docking bay with Malik, her heart had been pounding so fast she thought it was going to jump out of her chest. But as they had walked out into the lobby, her heart had almost stopped.

  Only minutes ago, the lobby had been in shambles, wrecked beyond recognition. Bodies had been thrown through the glass windows of the shops, and some of the railings had large sections missing, as the pieces had fallen to the floor. Taking her gaze away from the area, she eyed Malik. “I thought you said that Jaden and Katra weren’t here yet.”

  “They’re not.”

  Two Helios males came up the glides from the lower levels, as Maddox took the glide down to the lobby area. Nash and Creed Oberon were males she respected. Rejecting the matriarchal society the Helios lived by on Helix, they had forged their own path in life by opening up a club on New Vega. Purgatory was a club on one of the lower levels, and could be described as a hedonistic paradise. In a way it was like a Krytos sanctuary. Anyone could enter, but if they did, they had to obey the rules…or get bloody.

  She had gone through the Hunt at the same time as Nash when they had both turned twenty. The Hunt was a special ceremony on Helix that occurred four times a year, when both of the moons were full in the night sky. The participants were sent out into the jungle, where they had to survive alone for a full week to prove themselves. Those who succeeded received a thin scar over their hearts as a badge of honor, and Reva still wore hers with pride.

  Nash had been from a neighboring tribe, and she had come across him in while she’d been out in the wild. He’d been her first, but they had both too young to care for each other in a way that could have lasted. Still, they had remained friends over the years, and she’d been happy for the brothers when they had moved to New Vega to start a new life.

  She walked over to greet them, and Reva noted that both of the Helios males looked a little dazed, which wasn’t a normal occurrence. They had enough wits about them to narrow their amber eyes at the Tarins, though, and both males positioned themselves so they could keep all of the newcomers in their lines of sight.

  Nash look
ed her over before leaning his forehead to hers in greeting. “Reva. We’re so sorry about your family. We were stuck below after everything locked down, and we couldn’t help.”

  “Without masks, you would have gone insane. It was better to keep all the lower levels closed off to keep all the people down there safe.”

  Nash’s eyes went hard. “There were masks downstairs. If we had been contacted, we could have helped.”

  “Your mother and fathers will be missed.” Creed put a hand on Reva’s shoulder. He squeezed gently, then released her. “Let us know if there is anything we can do for you.”

  “You can tell me how the fuck this happened,” Maddox growled as he waved a hand in the air. “How the hell did everything get fixed if Katra and Jaden aren’t here yet?”

  “I don’t know who they are,” Creed began. “We were just on our way to grab somethings from the storage containers up here, and well…there was a female Dragon Warrior just standing here. Those glowing eyes are a little freaky.”

  Nash nodded. “She had gold eyes, but they sort of swirled with black. I’ve never seen anything like that, and we’ve met Dragon Warriors before. We know you closed the pavilion today, so I thought it was odd that she was here. We went over to speak to her, and she asked what happened. I told her an abbreviated version, then she just waved her hand, and everything was…all the rubble was gone and everything was back to normal.”

  “No, not normal,” Creed corrected. “Did you know that the banisters are real fucking gold? Oh, and there are carvings of each of the races on them now, too.”

  “They’re what?” Maddox asked incredulously. “I have gold banisters now? Fuck, people are going to be carving chunks of that shit off every chance they get.”

  “Pure gold,” Nash confirmed. “She said it annoyed her to look at this room, so she just fixed it.”